The Political Economy of Investment in Syria - 9781349577323

The Political Economy of Investment in SyriaAuthor(s): Linda Matar\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Palgrave Macmillan, United Kingdom\nImprint: Palgrave Macmillan\nISBN-13: 9781349577323, 978-1349577323\nSynopsis\nLinda Matar examines Syria's failure to promote employment-generating investment prior to the uprising. Tackling the thorny issue of the inapplicability of modern investment theory to a developing country, she situates the analysis of investment in Syria in its historical context and examines the socioeconomic structure and political preconditions that set the course of capital accumulation. Matar argues that the class in charge of development, which oversaw the allocation of resources during the Hafiz and Bashar Assad regimes, precipitated a crisis of capital accumulation. Difficult-to-access data and information compiled from fieldwork reveal how neoliberal reforms failed to build productive capacity and instead enriched a few through short-term speculative and mercantile .